Fitness Journey

In the beginning I was a 206lb "flabalicious" fat guy rapidly approaching the big 3-0. So, how am I doing? Today, about seven months in, I weighed 166.6lbs. Over the holidays I went back up to 178 lbs, but now I am working on reaching my goal of 159 lbs, 7% body fat, and a Ninja Warrior ready body.

So here comes a new year. So many chances to embrace constructive change. If only I had more control over some of the things I wanted to change, like, I resolve not to catch either a cold or the flu this year. But those type of things aside I’ve embraced the following resolutions:

We will maintain budgetary discipline. How?

We will use cash only to make purchases.

We will leave our debit cards in the car wherever we go. (accessible for emergencies but inaccessible for impulse buys)

Only one dinner out per month.

Make and live by a budget.

Allison will be in charge of meal planning and grocery shopping (we found that too many chefs in the store led to too much waste in the refrigerator).

I will reestablish physical and nutritional discipline. How?

Back to a high protein, low carb lifestyle.

Make my high water intake more consistent.

Get back to my tires and sandbag.

Get on Freecycle and find more outdoor equipment (I am thinking of an old barbell and some old weight plates).

Aside from Jan. 1st, I will cut back on sleeping in and late bed times. Not to mention 7 hours of sleep a night.

Be more consistent with recording my nutritional intake and exercise. I am much better at journaling workouts than I am nutrition. Could be because writing down reps is a good way to get rest between sets, I usually don’t have to rest between bites- if I did that would mean I was disturbingly out of shape.

If you answered yes to any of the above questions I have a few ideas for you. Some are relatively simple to implement and others will require you to go out and get some workout tools. The necessary equipment ranges from a medicine ball to a tractor tire and a sledgehammer. As a companion to this post I will be posting some pet projects of my own over the next few weeks. The first of which will be a weighted sled with a harness. Since I am pressed for time and this is an introductory post, this post will provide some video links to get you started thinking about some unconventional workouts

Well the summer is almost over for me- about seven weeks remain. Where does the time go? With so little time left and so much I’ve procrastinated on, it is time to catch up. And there is nothing I love more than cramming 3 months of work into less than half the time. From the marriage of my catching up from procrastination AND my love of extremes comes the latest challenge- “Ten Weeks to a Ripped Body…”

The Goals:

1. Drop 20 lbs in ten weeks.

2. Run a 5k (and finish in the money).

3. Complete 10 minutes of jump rope without pausing.

4. A ripped body (11% body fat or less).

5. Read 25 books on my book list & at least 5 books for each of my classes next semester.

Mykhailo Hrushevsky (1866-1934): Prominent Ukrainian historian. If I spend as much time reading as I expect, I just might look like that.

6. Keep up with my Bible studies 6 days a week.

7. Spend 30 minutes a day studying Spanish.

No. 1 RULE: NO procrastination, NO excuses.

Over the next week (starting Monday) I will post a series of articles on reaching these goals which will help me work through my planning and will hopefully help some of you who have similar goals. I will also keep you updated on my progress over the next ten weeks. So what is the plan? The workout program will be no non-sense; the nutritional plan will be a no frills affair; and the reading will most likely turn me into a hermit. But it is all worth it. The body that is elusively just out of my reach because of about 15-20 lbs of visceral and abdominal fat; the work I’ve failed to complete all summer that is only 30 books away from being complete; and the quiet times I’ve been missing are all only ten weeks away. When you think about it, is ten weeks really all that long? It is practically tomorrow.

I hope you will join me on this 10 week journey of discipline, hard work, and intensity. I could definitely use your feedback, encouragement, and input as I run through the next 2 months. And as always if you have any questions, just ask.

I don’t know if I am the only one, but I absolutely-totally-understandably HATE when I hear the following words.

I love you, I’m just not in love with you.

Those words make my blood boil. But I have to admit, when it comes to my workouts- that about covers my current relationship with exercise. I love the idea of working out and I love the memory of past workouts, but when it comes to present workouts there is little joy top be had. And I don’t mean to imply any sense of ease when I use the word joy. some of my best workouts have been stomach curdling and involved severe nausea and lactic acid burning in my muscles that rivaled a four alarm fire for intensity. And as a former fireman whose been face-to-face with extreme heat and crackling flames I can speak from experience. My lack of passion led to a bit of mild depression about the future of my workouts- which as of late have been little more than a roughly choreographed bore fests.

That was until I happened across the Men’s Fitness Magazine website as I was doing research for another post (set to drop later this week). On the front page there was a link to an article on an MMA fighter’s workout. A few clicks later I was enthralled by this fast paced, intense, hard pounding exercise routine.